Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
by Jenners • 06/12/2010 • 3 Stars, A Titles, Dystopia, P Authors, Young Adult • 18 Comments
1 book you read: “The Adoration of Jenna Fox” by Mary E. Pearson
2 words that describe the book: Sci-fi Lite
3 settings where it took place or characters you met:
- Setting: California, sometime in the future
- Jenna Fox is a 17-year-old girl who wakes up after a year-long coma. She had been in a terrible accident but seems to have no recollection of her life before. Little by little, Jenna begins to remember more about her past, but each memory brings more questions–questions that her devoted parents seem not to want to answer. When she finally uncovers the truth of what happened to her, it rocks her to her core.
- Lily is Jenna’s grandmother, who initially seems standoffish and cold to Jenna, for reasons that Jenna can’t comprehend. As Jenna seeks for answers about what happened to her, she begins to understand Lily’s complicated feelings towards her–just as Lily begins to understand some of what Jenna is experiencing and makes an effort to help her find the answers she’s been searching for.
4 Things you liked and/or disliked about it:
- I liked how Pearson has written a Young Adult (YA) book that is filled with some Big Questions: How much does memory play a role in making us the person we are today? What does it mean to be human? Can we love someone too much … to the point where we damage them instead of nurture them? The book also raises issues regarding medical ethics. In a very short amount of time, Pearson manages to raise a host of issues that will leave readers thinking. HOWEVER…
- I disliked that the book felt underdeveloped and simplified. I wish things had been more fleshed out. I truly felt that the book was too slight for its ideas, and I would have liked more details, set-up and development. At only 288 pages (many of which are short journal entries written in fragments), the book is a fast read … too fast. I really felt Pearson could have done much much more. As usual, I struggled with the whole YA label. This felt like a book that was “dumbed down” to me. Pearson has lots of good ideas, but the story and characters felt shallow.
- I disliked that Pearson introduces characters, hints at Dark Things about them, and then doesn’t really go back and explain things well. There was one character (whose name escapes me) who is either a psychopath or a really damaged kid. Pearson keeps bringing him in, having him scare or threaten others, and just drops him. Same with Jenna’s neighbor, who seems friendly at first but then is revealed to have a bit of a dark history as well. Both of these characters should have either been developed further or eliminated as I didn’t think they were integral to the story.
- I disliked that I couldn’t buy into the science that plays a key role in the book. I’m not a real picky reader (though from this review it might seem like I am), but I just couldn’t believe in the technology in this book. The single biggest hurdle for me were the three computers that play a role later in the book. I just didn’t buy into that aspect AT ALL. It didn’t make any sense to me, and I’m not sure I understood 100% what Pearson meant were on those computers.
5 Stars or less for your rating?
I’m giving the book 3 stars. I know a lot of people really really loved this book, and I might just be a crank or a person who doesn’t really appreciate YA books, but I just felt like this was a wonderful idea for a book that didn’t live up to its promise or its premise. As I said before, the book felt very underdeveloped to me. With such interesting and thought-provoking ideas, I think Pearson squandered her chance to write a really amazing book that would speak to all levels of readers. I seem to be in the minority on this one though, so be sure to check out what others think about this book. If nothing else, it would make a good book club read.
The Whys and Wheres: I got this book from the library after reading this review by Sandy at You’ve Gotta Read This. (And by the way, Sandy has already “forgiven” me for not liking the book as much as she did.)
To find out what other bloggers are saying about the book discussed in this post, visit theBook Blogs Search Engine.
And I’ve decided to put Mr. Linky back up for anyone else who wants to link up their Show Me 5 Saturday posts. I’d love to visit your posts if you write them.
I wished there had been more to the story because it was so interesting. Still, I really enjoyed it.
–Anna
I had this checked out of the library a few months ago and never got around to reading it before it had to go back. Looks like I saved myself some time.
I've been wanting to read this one (after reading several great reviews), but now I'm not so sure…
I totally need to try out this meme! It might help me get through my review pile. The main reason I haven't tried it yet is that I generally don't post on Saturdays…
While I loved the book when I read it I can absolutely see your point about some of it's shortcomings now that I have had more time to think about it.
I'll be keeping your review in mind when I get around to reading this book. I'm keeping it on my wish list though because I'm a sucker for these types of books.
Sorry to hear you were a bit let down! I wonder on which camp I'll fall when I read it. Maybe people seem to love it, but other seem to think it could have been better, especially the ending.
Did you review this before or just mention it? I seem to recall you thinking it was underdeveloped. I'll be reading this with my book club in a few months, and I'm a bit worried about it.
I'm sorry this one wasn't better for you. The premise sounded good at least.
This sounds like an "okay" book, but probably not one for my TBR stack. You've reveiwed too many others recently that sound so much better!
I remember when this was all over book blogs. I guess with any genre or any book, for that matter, people read differently. Your 3/5 (which is generous given your review) is another reader's 4 or 5/5. It happens!
Thanks for putting Mr. Linky back up. I'll be back next week with a SM5.
I don't think you are being picky at all – you know what you like and this one didn't fulfill all your requirements for a well developed book. My SM5 today is a YA also but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Have a great weekend, Jenners and happy reading.
Thanks for this review. My friends daughter has atually chosen to read this as one of her GCSE English books – I'm sure she'll be glad to hear what others think of it.
Do you think the author's original intent was to spin this off into a series, where she would feature some of the characters she just mentioned?
Or was she just writing for the internet-savvy, Twitter-sized attention span of her target audience?
I checked out Mary Pearson's personal web site…she uses Weebly.com for her blog (looks most like Blogger)…and I applied for a job while I was there!
Hm, I've had this on my wish list ever since I read all of those glowing reviews and now you've made me wonder if I'll like it. I do think YA can be well developed, so one doesn't necessarily exclude the other.
It's one of those weeks,
Great to have that Mr Linky back – thanks!!
I never seem to do well with YA books – probably because I'm an Old Adult!
I'm with you on this, as you know! :–)
I bought this one for the Kindle after reading Sandy's review, LOL. I haven't gotten to it yet, so the jury is out for me.
Forgiveness for not loving a book goes a loooooong way in preserving bloggy friendships, eh?